1. Field
This invention relates to the field of location services for mobile devices, and more paritcularly to enhanced user control of privacy policy for responses to location requests.
2. Description of Related Art
Location services (abbreviated as LCS, for “LoCation Services”) for mobile telephones and wireless digital communication devices (collectively referred to hereinafter as Mobile Stations) are an increasingly important business area for wireless communication providers. This importance is reflected in the establishment of standards and functional specifications for LCS. Three exemplary LCS references are: 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Technical Specification Group (TSG) Services and System Aspects, Functional stage 2 (SA2) description of LCS, Release 6, (3GPP TS 23.271 V6.0.0), June, 2002; Technical Document (TD) S2-022360, 3GPP TSG-SA2 Meeting #26, Toronto, Canada, August 19-23, 2002; and 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Technical Specification Group (TSG) Services and System Aspects, Functional stage 2 (SA2) description of LCS, Release 6, (3GPP TS 23.271 V6.3.0), March, 2003. The references are referred to hereinafter as 3GPP-R1, 3GPP-R2, and 3GPP-R3 respectively.
References 3GPP-R1 and 3GPP-R3 describe a functional model of an entire LCS system, including sections relating to user privacy. Reference 3GPP-R2 describes a network element, referred to as a Privacy Profile Register (PPR), that maintains the LCS privacy information of subscribers and that facilitates corresponding privacy functions. These incorporated references provide an overview of recent technology and standards relating to LCS and related LCS privacy operations. Numerous methods and apparatus for providing LCS to subscribers in accordance with these references are known to persons with ordinary skill in the communications arts.
One known advantageous method for determining the location of a Mobile Station in a wireless communication system employs the Global Positioning System (GPS). Including a GPS device (or more generally, a Position Determination module, or “PDM”) in the Mobile Station provides very accurate position determination capability. When a PDM is used as the primary means for providing accurate location information within a Mobile Station, the service provider network must contact the Mobile Station when requests for accurate location are received. Methods and apparatus for implementing the location service function using a PDM, such as using GPS in a Mobile Station, are well known to persons of ordinary skill in the wireless communications arts. Handsets implementing LCS functions using GPS are currently available. An exemplary GPS system for mobile stations is described the reference “An Introduction to SnapTrack™ Server-Aided GPS Technology,” M. Moeglein and N. F. Krasner, Institute of Navigation (ION) GPS 1998 Proceedings, Sep. 15–18, 1998, pp. 333–344. A recent patent application that describes a GPS system suitable for mobile stations is “Method and Apparatus for Measurement Processing of Satellite Positioning System (SPS) Signals,” L. Sheynblat and N. F. Krasner, U.S. Patent Application 20020050944, May 2, 2002.
Disadvantageously, user control of privacy policy information is very limited and inflexible using existing LCS privacy methods wherein user privacy is managed by a service provided network. For example, in some exemplary prior art LCS privacy methods, various classes of requestor clients are defined by the service provider, and a user privacy profile, such as the PPR referred to above, based on these classes is established when the user initiates service. In accordance with these LCS privacy methods, the privacy profile designates certain requestor classes that have unrestricted access to the user location, and other requestor classes that have restricted access. Such restrictions may, for example, include an automatic denial of LCS information to specific restricted classes. The restrictions may also include a requirement that the user be notified and (optionally) approve LCS access requests by requestors from specified restricted classes. In these exemplary prior art systems, privacy profile modifications may only be effected by modifying the service agreement between the provider and the user. In cases where user location is primarily determined by a PDM resident within the Mobile Station, an additional modification option is effected by disabling the PDM. Although this option enhances privacy by enabling the user to prevent the retrieval of accurate position information, the usefulness of this approach is extremely limited because it prevents accurate location retrieval for all requestor classes until the PDM is once again enabled.
The present disclosure is directed to a method and apparatus for LCS privacy management within a Mobile Station. The present disclosure enables convenient and flexible LCS control by a Mobile Station user.